Tag Archive for change

Very few individuals, if they’re honest, enjoy going to work every day in an environment filled with distrust, political maneuvering, and so many of the other ugly things that characterize too many groups and organizations. And most folks, if you ask them, would say they wish things were different where they work. In fact, a recent Gallup poll suggests that up to 77% of individuals said they were miserable in their jobs.

So people work places where they dislike the culture. And it’s not just some people. It’s a lot of people.

Those same people, unless they’re gluttons for punishment, wish it were different.

(Do you see the opportunity yet?)

They need leaders. They need people to lead them where they already want to go. It’s not like you’d be leading them toward some undesirable state of affairs. On the contrary, you’d be leading them toward a trusting, non-political, honest, healthy, passionate culture, which is exactly what most people want anyway. So if so many people want this, why don’t must people find themselves in this type of atmosphere? What’s missing?

Easy. Leaders. They need people with a certain angst about their environments, coupled with the desire and drive to serve through leadership. They need people willing to do the hard things servant leadership requires. They need you.

Yesterday we looked briefly at employees — humans — working through change, as well as the notion that they could “just get over it.” Here are a few of the reasons I’m just not sure it’s reasonable to think it’s that simple.

1. They’re human.

We feel. We see. We hear. We hurt. We laugh. We cry. We experience. And we remember. Try as we might, none of us gets to start with a clean slate, so to speak. We’re imperfect humans living imperfect lives in an imperfect world while working in imperfect organizations filled with other imperfect humans living imperfect lives. It’s often so, so much deeper than someone “just getting over it.”

2. There may be emotional scars.

See above. We remember past hurts, don’t we? Forgive and forget is cute and all, but entirely unrealistic. We don’t literally forget past injustices. We choose to move forward and attempt to live in such a way that we’re not holding people hostage to their screw-ups for their entire lives. But the scars are there. It doesn’t necessarily mean they’re bitter. It doesn’t necessarily mean they’re stubborn. It just means they’re human.

3. There may be psychological scars.

See previous two reasons.

4. They believe they’ve seen this episode before and they remember how it ends.

Many times, when folks feel like something is being forced onto them, it reminds them of the last time something was forced onto them. And obviously it didn’t go extremely well if it’s being changed again…

5. They need more time.

Real change takes more time than the fake kind. The human part of change, especially when compounded with the organizational dynamic, takes a good long while most of the time. It’s simply not as fast as most people would like it to be. That doesn’t mean you don’t put things in place, and that doesn’t mean you don’t provide the framework and tools for the change; but it does mean you understand that people need time to really embrace something. Sure, they could put on an act and fake it, but is that really what any of us wants?

They need to experience something different over and over again over a long period of time. It’s partly our experiences that drive what we believe, so in order for humans to truly believe something different, they need to experience something different. And not just one thing. Or two things. They need to see a different trajectory. Real deal change takes time.

6. We have to consider the possibility that we might keep reopening their wounds.

Remember that part about us as leaders being imperfect? Well, that means there are going to be times we mess up. We certainly don’t mean to, but we might do something that to us seems innocent and benign; but based on a person or organization’s history, that thing can have unintended consequences.

7. They can sense when leaders think all of the above is just nonsense and employees need to just get over it. And in a sadly ironic twist, that almost ensures they won’t.

People aren’t idiots. They often know when they’re being paid lip service. They can read between the lines of emails, and they attach meaning to actions based on the organization’s story. When people perceive that leaders don’t really care about their hurt or concerns, it only causes further pain or distrust or anger or whatever else.

Why does it matter?Leaders have a responsibility to care. We can’t simply cross our arms and pout in frustration when an employee or group of employees won’t “just get over it.” Instead, we should be asking ourselves why they can’t. What could we do to help? What emotional wounds need healing?

And it can be experienced and perceived both positively and negatively, yes? Sometimes the change feels good and generates feelings of happiness or contentment. Other times, not so much. It can drive us to our knees in despair, anger, and hopelessness.

Organizational life isn’t immune to this phenomenon. Shift happens. [Insert your favorite cliché phrase about change here. Maybe “Change is the only constant” or something.]

Since we’re all humans (I’m operating under the assumption that it’s mostly humans who read this blog), we each deal with change differently, and we deal with different types of change in different ways.

Many times the way some folks deal with organizational change frustrates leaders. These leaders, most of whom I’d assume are very well-meaning, often wish others would work through change in a manner they find more acceptable. Perhaps they believe the employees are being immature. Maybe it’s the pace at which they’re working through the change. It could be the methods they’re using to navigate that time. It could be any number of things or combination of things, and I’m not even saying there’s not ever merit in those things.

Everybody, certainly including leaders, has immature moments or periods. Everybody loses their cool sometimes. Everybody handles some types of change better or faster or more smoothly than other types. Everybody has all sorts of baggage, whether you see it or not.

So here’s the thing — most of the time, if there were a way for employees to slip on some ruby slippers, click their heels together, and make themselves be flawless as it relates to their ability to embrace and drive change, I think they’d do it. I know I would (although the ruby slippers would be pushing it).

But no such voodoo exists. There are reasons people all over organizations everywhere can’t just snap their fingers and “get over” things or “move on.” Sometimes they’re trying extremely hard, but just can’t do those things as quickly or in the same ways as some might want them to. Other times maybe they’re so emotionally damaged that they’ve essentially given up trying.

Again though, there are reasons. There are always reasons people do things, and that rings true here as well. What might some of them be?

We’ll look at some of them tomorrow. In the meantime, think through your own attitude toward change. How do you cope with it? What methods work for you? What methods don’t? What tips would you share?

But also, think through your attitude toward others as they navigate change. Are you empathetic? Kind? Impatient? Arrogant? Cranky, irritable, and bloated? (wait — I think that’s from some commercial or something) What do the best leaders seem to do to help people through difficult times?